I Won't Stop Bleeding Til My Heart Stops Beating
by vampgirl17
Summary: DantexOC She watched him kill her parents, and now she's stuck with him until he believes her "innocence" has been saved.What happens when dark forces have done the unthinkable to her? suck at summeries, better one inside *rated M for later chapters*R
1. Let The Internal Bleeding Begin

_**Okay, so I suck at summeries, but I'll try to make a better one here: Ballentine is unusual. Very Unusual. Dante has to keep her with him to make sure she stays as innocent as she is now. It's not very easy to do that when the girl you're trying to protect doesn't even trust you. It gets even harder as dark secrets are reveiled that not even she knew and even darker forces will do anything to taint her perfection. Dante can't protect her 24/7, he needs some rest too. So how is this going to play out?**_

**_Anyway, this is my first DMC fic and I know Dante seems just a little out of charactor... or at least, that's how I think he is... but read, review and lemme know what I can make better. Enjoy _**

I never really liked my family all that much. Father was a fire demon, mother was a vampire. Me, though? Well, I'm something completely different. When I was a baby, our house was invaded by demons and they'd knocked my mother out. My father wasn't there, so he couldn't do anything. I was a really pissed off baby since they'd hurt my mother so when they came after me, I did something I've never been able to do since then. I absorbed them. They jumped at me and I made this weird noise that was a combination between a scream and a groan. This bright light engulfed them and they literally melted into my skin. So not only am I part vampire part fire demoness, but I'm also part of a bunch of different types of demons which has strengthened me beyond belief.

Now, I'm fourteen years old, sitting in my room with my music on full blast to drown out the yelling of my parents. They always fight these days. I sigh heavily through my boredom and walk out of my room. Downstairs, they stood. Mom had her eyes completely black and her fangs were dripping this weird venom she'd acquired from biting my dad so much. Said father was towering over her, fire licking the air around him as it came from under his skin. I snuck passed them easily, using the shadows cast around from Dad's fire to cover me on my way to the kitchen.

We had two fridges. One had normal, everyday food for when we had human guests over, which happened a lot since just about everyone loved my parents and their stupid charities. The other was just a small thing set into a cubby hole in the wall behind a huge portrait of us all. I always look at it and wonder how I could really be their kid. I don't look anything like them. Mom had long, wavy, blonde hair that reached just passed her shoulders. Her moss green eyes were the only thing to give away the wisdom of her true age as they sparkled with knowledge not known to the everyday man. Father had short, black hair that he spikes up to try to look younger than he already does. He had these vibrant blue eyes that drew people in with their beauty. Me? I had straight, dark red hair to my waist with dark brown eyes that turned black like my mother's when I got angry. My eyes change a lot more than hers, though. They have a different color for every emotion and with how fast my mood changes were, they were always changing. It's only when I'm calm, bored or somewhat happy that they went back to their normal color.

I growl at the picture as I take it down to reach the small fridge behind it. This one was filled with blood packets. Mom fed from actual humans, killing them in the process, but I didn't want to kill anyone. I'm surprised they were actually okay with my decision to just stick with blood packets since they really didn't seem to care about anything else I wanted.

Growing my nail into a claw, I sliced open the packet, grabbed a straw from off the counter and began walking out of the kitchen. I had the straw between my thumb and index finger when I walked out. Mom and Dad were still arguing and I finally figured out what it was about. Their latest charity. Mom wanted to say it was for the poor and actually use the money to buy weapons for demons out on the streets so they had a chance against hunters while Dad said that would practically be like begging for the Son of Sparda himself to come after them.

I sucked on my blood packet-turned-juice-box as I listened to the fight with amusement, leaning my side against the doorway of the kitchen.

"If it helps any, I'm on Dad's side. You're fuckin' crazy," I said after a few minutes.

They both stopped and turned to look at me. Mom sighed dramatically and whispered, "well, Baly, this is business between your father and I, so leave it to that. Okay?"

I hated it when she called me that. My name was Ballentine, but for some odd reason, she insisted on shortening it to Baly. I shot her a glare for it but merely whispered, "whatever."

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard the bang. It was like the air itself had been torn apart for that one noise and suddenly, the perfect illusion of my not-so-perfect world was torn away too as my mother irrupted into screams. I spun around, the straw of my packet stuck in my mouth as the horror of what happened sunk into me. There was a small hole in the door by where Dad was standing. I looked lower and saw the blood splattered on the bottom part of the door and staining the white carpet. My eyes widened as my gaze tinted slightly to mask everything in a blue haze as they changed to a dark blue with the fear leaking into my body. I refused to look at the bloodied corpse of my father on the floor, instead I locked my gaze with my mother's. I knew my face mirrored hers as the fear caught hold of her too. The door was kicked open and before I could see who it was, my mother had spun to face him. She did something I hadn't heard her do since the day those demons had come into our home.

She screamed. Not like she was screaming before, but more like an ear shattering, blood curdling scream that ripped through her throat and I'd guess left it raw and sore.  
That one noise was all I needed to remember what I'd been told to do ever since I was a little girl.

_If someone ever comes into our home uninvited, wait for the signal and then run. It doesn't matter where you go, just run and hide. Don't come out until the air has settled and the house is quiet. No matter what you hear, stay where you are and don't make a sound._

I knew right then that her scream was the signal and before I could even tell my legs to, they were carrying me up the stairs and back into my room. I heard my mother screaming, begging him for something and I waited by the closed door to hear what was going on.

All I heard, though, was a choked sob and a scream. There was a low, sadistic chuckle and then her screams ended with another air shattering shot. Everything went silent. Tears sprung to my eyes as I numbly walked to my walk-in closet, closed the doors behind me and sat in the farthest corner. My knees were drawn to my chest and I wrapped my arms around them. The tears slid down my cheeks as I tried and failed to stop the sobs breaking free of my throat. I still had the blood packet clutched in my hands and I tried to sip it in between sobs. If that man came after me, I'd need my strength. I knew he could hear me if he were still here and yet, I didn't care. My parents were dead. What was I going to do now? What really mattered now anyway? I could taste my tears mixing into the blood now, but for some reason, that just made me cry harder.

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. What had they told me? Keep quiet? Yeah, right. Cause I can totally stop crying on demand. The thought was laced with sarcasm as it floated through my head. Light flooded into the closet and I knew he'd found me. Three steps and he stood in front of me. I looked up, knowing my eyes were now the moss green of my mother's as the sadness racked through me. I forced the sadness away with as much effort as I could, turning into a bored anger as I stuck the straw in my mouth and took a big gulp of blood. Then I stood. I don't know what I was planning to do, but I knew facing him would be a more honourable way to die than cowering in a corner, crying over the death of my parents. Did that sound heartless? Good, my disguise is working.

The man standing before me looked everything like what I imagined a demon hunter would look like. Red leather trench coat, black leather pants and boots. His hair was as white as an angel's wing and shone in a way that made me wonder just how soft it might be. His eyes were pale blue and held amusement and curiosity in them. He looked confused at the packet in my hand, which was now almost empty.

"Why would you need that if you can just go out and kill what ever homeless bum is on the street," his voice was low and held a hint of amusement in it. I glared at him, my eyes going black, but said nothing. The only reply he was going to get out of me was what he'll get when he tries to pull that trigger. He only looked more confused until finally, his eyes lit up with understanding.

"You're not a killer!"

I finished off the packet as he spoke and tossed it over my shoulder, keeping my glare in place.

"So… that means you haven't killed anyone, right," when I didn't reply, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and said, "well then, there's no reason to kill you."  
I shrugged out of his hold, letting the fire demon in me light up just enough to singe his gloved hand. I walked to the door, keeping my anger boiling so my eyes would stay black and frightening.

"Leave. You've got what you came for. Now. Get. **OUT**," I spoke in a growl that held more authority than I felt.  
This seemed to change his amused attitude to a more serious one and he walked over to me again, wrapping his arms around me in an attempt at a hug. I merely tensed in his arms.

"No. What I came for was the demon hybrid who's innocence is still worth saving."

I froze. I didn't know what to say. He just killed my parent and now he wanted to save me? What the hell? He pulled back and turned me with his arms, keeping one around my shoulders as he lead me back down the stairs. My eyes drifted to the corpses on the floor and a lump formed in my throat. I wanted to cry again, but for some reason, I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't cry while I was with this man and I also couldn't run. I wanted to. Why would I want to stay with the man that just killed my only family? We were leaving the house now and getting into his car. I still couldn't run. I just kept asking myself why I was letting this happen. As we drove away, he held out his hand and whispered his name.

"Dante, Son of Sparda."

I guess they didn't need a charity to bring him knocking down their door. They just needed me. Even with that knowledge, I still took his hand, shook it, and gave him my name too.

"Ballentine, the girl who's going to kill you in your sleep."

Too bad we both knew that wasn't happening any time soon.

**_So there's chapter one. Let me know how it was. I accept flamers, they help me write better, just don't be too bitchy about it. Also, anyone who wants to be a beta for me, go ahead. sometimes I look over simple mistakes so it sure would help. _**

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	2. Trying To Cope

**_Ok soooooooooo here's chapter two :D lemme know how it is XDD Disclaimer: I don't own Devil may Cry. I only own Ballentine. soooo without further ado ENJOY! :D_**

I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep until my eyes opened. I was in a simple, small room with dark grey walls. It had a huge white dresser beside the bed I lay in that was covered in dusty books that looked like they could fall apart with just a simple touch. I looked down at the bed I lay in. Grey, satin sheets surrounded me along with a huge, black comforter. The bed was unusually soft for something that looked so simple. Clothes littered the floor and spilled out of the unorganized closet set into the other wall. A window on either side of the bed let in the light of the setting sun and yet the room still seemed dark and cold. In my examination of the room, I hadn't noticed the door opening until light filled it. I looked up, and there he was. Clad in only a tight pair of leather pants stood Dante with a slight smirk on his face that I was beginning to think stayed there all the time. My gaze instantly turned to a cold glare and I forced hatred to flow through my veins in order to turn my eyes dark blue, adding more coldness to the look. He just grinned at me and walked to the foot of the bed.

"Well good morning to you too," he said with a slight chuckle.

He tried to sit next to me on the bed, but as soon as I felt the bed dip a little from where he sat, I shot up, taking a few steps away before turning to glare at him.

"Where the hell am I," I laced the sentence with as much venom as I could manage. I could already feel the anger boiling down, though, as a numbing calm filled my veins. One of the downsides to being filled with hundreds of thousands of demons was that I couldn't stay angry for very long because they tried to act as a guard for me while they were inside which made sure I didn't lose my temper. My father had been trying to help me learn to control each demon individually to use their powers to their full extent. Thanks to him, I'd gotten pretty good at it. I can even force certain ones out to make them do my bidding for a short period of time. It was really tiring to do, though, and my mother had made us stop because I was wasting too much blood to regenerate afterwards.

I heard him chuckle, which snapped me out of my mind babble and saw that he'd stood. Dante was in front of me, staring down with grey-blue eyes and that smirk that made me want to punch him. He wrapped me in his arms in a tight hug and I finally realized that there was a wet trail leading down my cheeks from my eyes. The vampire in me made me comfortable in his hold. It loved attention when I was upset. After what seemed like an eternity, Dante finally pulled away with a wide smile. His arm stayed around my shoulders as he walked me out of the room and down a flight of stairs. There was a black leather couch on the far wall and an oak desk on the other. A pool table dominated the middle of the room. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked around.

"What's so funny," Dante asked from beside me. He feigned a hurt expression when I looked at him.

I frowned at him and re-attached my glare, but I knew it wasn't as strong as before, I was happy whether I wanted to be or not.

"You still haven't answered my question," I stated with fake coldness.

He sighed slightly and answered, "you're at Devil May Cry. It's my home and office… and it's your home too now."

I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to storm around the place, tearing it all up. But I couldn't. I was hungry, pretty much starving and that made the vampire in me stay happy in Dante's hold. Instead, I simply asked why as I continued to walk down the stairs. I didn't think he'd heard me for a second as he walked silently beside me. When he answered, he changed the subject, hoping I wouldn't notice, but I did. I didn't say anything though. I've learned that when people don't want to talk about something, there's a good reason for it.  
He said quietly, "I brought the left over blood packets from your old home and the straws. They're in the fridge and on the counter, just like before. What's mine is yours so make yourself at home. I'll get Trish to take you shopping later for some clothes."

He had this warm smile on his face that made me actually feel kind of bad for wanting to punch him earlier. I simply nodded and turned towards the open doorway he'd pointed to while he was talking. Once I got into the kitchen, I went straight for the fridge. At first, I didn't see the packets, all I saw was about six or seven pizza boxes and too much beer. Then I looked down further and there they were. The entire fridge except the top shelf was filled with packets of the red, milky substance that gave me life. As I grabbed one, I couldn't help but feel, just for a second, that I was back at home and Dante killing my parents was really just a bad dream. I grew my nail into a claw and ripped it open, grabbing a straw off the counter. When I walked out, I had to try really hard to not drop the blood packet as a lump formed in my throat. I'd been so into my little fantasy that I had actually expected to see my parents fighting again when I came out. Instead, all I saw was Dante sitting at his desk with his feet up on it and a phone to his ear. I stood in the doorway to the kitchen sucking absentmindedly at my blood packet as I fought to keep the tears from spilling over. As he hung up the phone, he glanced up at me while I walked numbly to the couch. His eyes looked worried, but his face tried to hide that by looking bored.

"Lady and Trish are coming over to take you shopping while I take this mission…," his voice trailed off when I looked up at him, tears freely falling now, "what's wrong?"

I couldn't believe he'd ask something so stupid. He knew what was wrong. Yet he insisted on torturing me by keeping me here. My sad gaze quickly turned to one of pure hatred, my eyes turning black. He opened his mouth to say something, but I was up before he could. I was already running up the stairs and I went into the first door I found. The room I stumbled into was the bathroom and I locked the door, turning on the water, hoping against hope that it would drown out my weeping. Soon, though, I knew my choked sobs could be heard over it as Dante pounded on the door, trying to get me to open it. It didn't take long for my demons to force me to open the door and fall into his arms. Everything in me except my mind wanted to trust this man, even after what he'd done. Even my heart begged me to just let it go and be okay with him. By now, I didn't know what I was crying for anymore and that just made me cry harder. Dante had led me back downstairs and laid me down on the couch. He was holding my blood packet in one hand while brushing my hair back with the other. My head was in his lap and my fingers were curled into his shirt.

I didn't even notice the door opening until a woman's voice carried across the room to us.

"Damn, Dante, you can't be left alone five minutes with a girl before you have her in tears."

Dante didn't reply and I didn't have to look to know he was glaring at her. He moved himself so he could stand and my head flopped back onto the couch. I'd rolled over, though, so I could see what was going on. Just as Dante's hand swung back from him taking a step forward, I snatched the blood packet from it and sat up. There were two girls standing in the middle of the room. One had long blonde hair and black leather shirt that just barely covered her chest and ended just under it to show off her stomach. Black leather pants clung to her legs as she stood with a hand on her hip. The other had short, black hair that framed her face. Her eyes were two different colors, one red and one blue, and freckles dotted her face like stars in a night sky.

She wore a white button up blouse with the top few undone to show off the beginnings of cleavage without making her look generally like a slut. A really short brown skirt that could have easily been mistaken for a belt surrounded her legs ending above mid thigh, leaving her legs completely bare until they fell into blood red boots. Something about them made me feel the need to strangle something and I knew right off the bat that I wouldn't like them very much. I didn't really have a choice, though, since Dante was now walking out the door with his sword and guns, leaving me alone with them.

As soon as the door closed, the blonde one walked over to stand in front of me. She had a wide smile on her face as she said, "I'm Trish," then she pointed behind her to the other girl, "and that's Lady. We're friends of Dante. If you ever have a problem with him, come to us."  
I just nodded and continued sucking my blood packet. There was silence and they looked at me as if waiting for something. Then I remembered I still hadn't introduced myself.

"I'm Ballentine."

They both smiled now and Trish took my free hand, pulling me up. She led me to the door and as she opened it, Lady said from behind us, "now that we've been acquainted, it's time for some shopping."

They both grinned. I groaned. I hate shopping. This is how I knew I wouldn't like them at all. Yet at the same time, I knew we'd end up being best friends.

And that sucked royally.

**_R&R please! _**


	3. Bleeding Stopped Infection Begun

**_Short chappy. Sorry this took so long to put up. So. There's a break down and a realization. And most of all, there's the most terrifying understanding she's probably ever going to know. Enjoy :D_**

Chapter 3~ Bleeding Stopped, Infection Begun

The mall was huge. Loud. Crowded. And completely terrifying. I have agoraphobia, which is a fear of people which you tend to develop when you're a creature whose every instinct is to snap all their necks and have a very bloody feast. So being in places like this wasn't very good for me. I tried explaining this to Lady and Trish, but they just didn't get it. They kept telling me it would be fine. I took one step in and froze. The smell of fresh blood floated through the air all around me. I could see the blood pulsing under the skin of everyone in front of me. A small blonde girl walked by and just by her smell, I knew her blood was thick and creamy. A young man walked beside her, his smell indicated thin, milky blood. I licked my lips and my insides churned. The hunger growing inside me was almost overwhelming and it horrified me. I gulped as the girls each took one of my arms in their hands and pulled me farther in. Surrounded by temptation, I had no where to run. They took me to a small shop that was filled with those stupid things known as shoes that I think look more like torture devices. Four inch spikes came off the bottoms and I still don't understand how they could be seen as fashionable. They'd make great weapons, though. While the girls made a huge fuss over what color and how big the heel should be, I was busy watching a girl sitting at the end of the aisle. She was maybe seven steps away. Give or take one. Her hair hung from her head like an obsidian lake that curled around her shoulders and breasts, ending with a final curve at the end. The vein in her neck pulsed beckoningly and my mouth watered at the scent she gave off. I was up on cloud nine. Swimming through a fog of flowery scents and caramel. My head spun with the thought of having her in my arms with her milky life essence draining into my mouth.

And then, like fate would have it. The stupid, ugly yet beautiful girl just had to cut her finger open on a loose piece of metal on the side of the small stool she sat on. A small gasp, an, "oops," and said finger raised to her lips. But in the few seconds for that to happen, I ran into a brick wall. My hunger burned inside me. My vision became red. I could feel the points of my incisors poking my bottom lip. I stood. The girls didn't even notice as they discussed a pair of black heels that could easily snap an ankle with one wrong step. My feet brought me closer and closer to the girl as the beast raged inside. I was terrified. I'd never felt anything like this. I almost wanted to weep for knowing what would soon happen to this girl. I've seen my mother do it a million times. It really isn't fun for the one who gets bitten when it is meant for food and not pleasure. My insides twisted around and I felt my balance going. For the first time in my life, I knew just how horrible vampirism really was. I was a monster in the disguise of a human. I couldn't fight it. My will was gone. The last step. Oh goddess. She looked up with big blue eyes glazed over with the question of what this hidden beast was doing in front of her. Tears were in my eyes now. I didn't want to hurt anyone. But I couldn't control my body. My hands shook as one lightly held her shoulder, the other around the wrist to the hand with that damned finger in her mouth.

Something snapped inside me. I felt it give way. It gave me the split second of clear thought that I needed. Before I could question it, I was running. Lady's voice sounded behind me, calling my name, but I was gone too fast. I didn't know where my feet were taking me, I just knew it was away and that girl's life was spared. The tears spilled over, feeling like liquid fire burning down my cheeks. I felt bile rise in my throat at the thought of what I almost did. Never have I hated the being I was. Not until now. My body was screaming for me to turn around and return to that damned blood fest. I felt the desire burning in my veins. It cooled, though, with every step away.

By the time my feet brought me home, ice water had replaced that burning desire and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I looked up and for some reason, my heart sank.

I was at my old house. The door still hung on its hinges and I could see the blood seeping out onto the step. I knew no one would have found what had happened. No one ever came to the house unless they were invited. It didn't surprise me that I could still see the creamy thigh of my mother's corpse in the half opened door way. I'd trained my body a long time ago to come back here when my brain shut down. It always made me feel better. Most of the time, my parents wouldn't really be home when something happened, I just loved the solitude that this sanctuary use to bring me. It was my home. But, see, there's a key word there most would miss. Was. Not is. I felt it before I knew it. Where I was meant to go now. I knew I'd never be back here again and still it didn't phase me, even a little. Spinning on my heel, I started running again the same way that I'd come. I could control myself now and as I ran farther and farther from that place I use to call home, I felt a part of me fall away. A part that I thought I'd miss. I never really thought of it ever again after I acknowledged it's absence.  
I turned one last corner and the place came into view. The place I'd be stuck with for a long time. The place that looked so welcoming and yet so terrifying.

Devil May Cry.

I shook my head at the sudden dread that weighed my body down and took the last few steps to the door. My hand reached out for the knob, but before it got there, the door opened.  
He wore his usual black leather pants with no shirt to hide his pale, toned chest. The questioning gaze in his eyes slowly melted into a look of worry and I almost caught the look of fear in them as it finally registered to him of who exactly stood in front of him. I smiled weakly to try to make a look to say I was fine because I really didn't like that look in his eyes at all, but I knew it just made me look worse than I already did as he engulfed me in a hug.

Dante knew better than to ask as he led me into the shop. I had the sudden urge to cry as I realized just how comfortable I was in his hold. He'd killed my parents and forced me to live with him and yet I felt safe here. I felt loved. The scariest thing of all, though?

This felt like home.

**_R&R let me know how it was. Trust me, the good stuff is coming. We just have to get into it well enough first that later things can actually be understood so just bear with me for a bit. Flaming is accepted. _**

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	4. Infection cured, old wounds reopened

_**So I'm really sorry that I've taken so long to put this up. I'm working on another story as well that's all mine, not a fanfiction called My Name Is Agony so it sort of takes up a lot of my time haha, but I'm trying towork more on DMC since it's the one that actually has people wanting to read it :D anyway, here's chapter 4, it's longer than the last one at least XD R&R**_

The girls got back about a half hour after I did. They burst through the door red faced and huffing as if they'd just run a marathon. They looked panicked when they didn't see Dante in the office, and they had yet to see me perched on the couch, clutching a half drank blood packet, reading a book about demon curses.

Lady ran into the kitchen in hopes of finding him while Trish made a break for the stairs. She was about halfway up when Lady came out, of course looking toward Trish instead of right at me, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh. They both turned to face me and I was sure that for a split second, the look of uncontrollable anger crossed Trish's gaze. She slowly descended the steps back down as Lady began to walk towards me.

When she was about halfway across the room she whispered, "what happened to you?"

I sighed and put the book down with the blood packet on top of it, sitting up straight to look up at them.

"I told you it was a bad idea to take me there."

They simply cocked their heads to the side as their gazes became questioning. I was about to explain when Dante burst through the bathroom door, steam washing out around him as he came down the stairs with a small towel hanging off his hips and another towel drying his hair.

"She's got a fear of people. So she can't be in crowded places. You two should listen to her when she tries to tell you something."

I'm not sure why, but when he gave me a look saying to keep the real reason to myself, I felt a small shot of pain through my chest. But I didn't question him, just tilted my head forward in a small, hidden nod.

Trish put her hands on her hips and glared incredulously at him, hissing out in an acidic voice, "you're the one who wanted us to take her out in the first place!"  
He simply shrugged, plastered on his famous idiot grin and said, "I didn't know about her problem until she got back here. How about online shopping for her? You two still willing to help out with that?"

I stared at him with the same look as Trish sans the glare. I'm a fourteen year old girl, I don't need help with my shopping. Thankfully, Lady picked up on the look because she walked over to me and asked, "if we give you the money, do you know what you're going to be looking for?"

I nodded slowly and she turned back to face Dante.

"See? She's not a total idiot. She is a teenage girl, you know. Me and Trish have some business to take care of. Just give her your limit and access to the computer and she'll be fine."

I smiled at this. Lady seemed to understand perfectly that I just didn't need shit from people right now. After the girls left, I let out one last chuckle and grabbed my blood packet from the floor, walking over to stand in front of him. A smile hung on my lips as I sucked up the last of my blood and said, "you know what, I like her."

Dante just stared at me until I brushed past him to his desk. I plopped down easily in the leather seat and started looking for clothes along with something else. Something I knew I was going to need if I was going to feel even slightly safe while I lived here. I wouldn't tell Dante that I was ordering myself weapons, and when he came to look at what I was getting, I shrank down the search window to look at a page full of T-shirts with the names of different bands that I liked. As soon as he'd walk away, I'd pull the page back up and finish looking for the right site. There was a man that worked closely with my father for a long time back when he use to go out to fight demons before he started sympathising for them and began helping them instead. The man had told me when I was eleven that if I ever needed any sort of weapon, he'd get it for me. The blade I wanted I'd need him to make, but I knew he'd do it if I asked politely. It was a blade that me and my father had been planning out to make for quite a while and luckily, I always had the blueprint of it in my back pocket. It would kill almost anything easily and it had a special gem in the handle that would allow me to send one of my demons into it to use its power with the blade. The jewel needed wasn't hard to find and me and my father had already worked on the demon involvement with it. When I finally found the right site, I had to try hard to keep myself from letting out a delighted little sigh and sent him a quick personal message that told him of the blade and told him exactly how badly I needed it. That meaning I didn't ask him to make it, I told him to. Then I wrote in the address of the shop but told him that it had to specifically be given to me. I didn't even want to think of what would happen if Dante saw it before I held it in my hands.

I hadn't realised just how engulfed I was in my message until I heard Dante's voice from the kitchen calling my name with an irritated tone. I only knew from the tone that he must have been calling me for quite a bit. I flicked my eyes up to him with a forced look of boredom and asked what he wanted.

"I was trying to ask you if you wanted some pizza or if that blood was suppose to be your supper?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. No matter how much I wanted to hate him, I just had to admit that it was a vein attempt to not like him. He thought we only drank blood? Now I was sure he was an idiot.

"I don't know if you noticed, but blood is a liquid. Meaning it's a drink. Yeah it gives vampires strength and heals them and they die without it, but it's still just a simple drink. We do eat normal food too you know," my voice held amusement and I knew my eyes were a soft, baby blue.

I could see the relief on his face as he realized just how comfortable I'm becoming in his company. He must have also realized that it's been almost three hours and I haven't snapped at him or sent him a death glare even once. He masked his relieved look fairly quickly, though, and turned it into one of amusement.

"So can I take that as a yes?"

I simply nodded, my hair bouncing against my shoulders and turned back to finish my shopping. I'd gotten two Alesana shirts and a whole bunch of dark T-shirts, hoodies and I even threw in a few tanks even though I hadn't worn them since that night on my ninth birthday. A shudder passed through me as the memory flooded into my head and all I could hear were internal screams and sadistic laughs. My demons helped me block up the memory once again and seal it in the back of my head as I finished going over my list of clothes to make sure I had what I needed. Jeans, sweats, a few shorts and even two skirts were there along with a wide assortment of shoes and boots. All the boots were platform boots fit well enough to be able to hide a blade on the inside and the thick heels were big enough for me to add in a few blades to come out when I needed them. It wasn't hard to do, really. Me and Father did it all the time.  
All these thoughts and memories of my dad made it hard to stop myself from crying and soon, I had to go back up to the bathroom, ignoring Dante's questioning calls as he brought out the pizza to the desk. I hopped into the shower and kept the heat high, wondering if I could just melt into a pool of skin and mush to escape though the drain with the rest of the water if I just stood there long enough. After my pale skin became a soft pink and I was numb once again to the point that my tears finally stopped and my memories gave up their attack on my head, heart and soul, I breathed out a disappointed sigh and stepped out of the shower. Then I froze.

There was a huge, black T-shirt sitting on top of a pair of plaid boxers. Beside them was a thick, white towel. I hadn't even heard the door open or close, but he'd obviously come in to be able to lay those there. And I realized that his thought process was right. I'd need to wear his clothes until mine were delivered. My mind just kept going back to the fact that I hadn't been aware of him entering and leaving. After everything that's happened to me, my instincts screamed at me along with my mind. How could I be so careless? It terrified me that I hadn't noticed a thing. My ninth birthday can never repeat in my life. I had to make sure of it. I wouldn't survive something like that happening again. That pain. That fear. That violation. That bloody memory. I couldn't let it happen again. So why was it that I couldn't even keep my senses on track enough to at least know that a full grown, half demon man that could overpower me without even trying came and went from a room that I was in while I was in such a horrible and weak state.

But that's just it. He came in and he left. He didn't even try to take a peek at you. He didn't do anything. He's just trying to help you.

I couldn't tell whether it was one of my inner demons or just the rational side of my brain, but it thawed my terror stricken body instantly.

Once I was finally dressed in Dante's ridiculously over sized shirt, which made it look like I didn't even have anything on under it because it came down all the way to my knees, I stepped out of the bathroom and looked down to where Dante lay on the couch. He was lying so he could see the top of the stairs. So he could see me. And as soon as I saw him, he sat up. His gaze ran the length of my body and the momentary look in his eyes made me shiver as fear slowly crawled up my back. He noticed it. I saw his nostrils flare. He smelt my fear. Then he lay back down and said one simple sentence that broke down every wall I had up of that night and all the nights after it and brought me to my knees, shaking violently with sobs.

"So who's throat is it that I'm going to have to tear out for doing this to you?"

I didn't even bother to ask how he knew at all.

_**I know a lot of you can probably guess what it is that's happened to her, but believe me, everything I have in here is for a huge reason. So anyway, let me know how it was. Flamers are loved greatly :D next chappy is an interesting one XD Oh and the band used, Alesana, they are a GREAT band so check them out sometime :) Their newest CD is called The Emptiness and they are my favourite band in the WHOLE world so go check them out :D anyway, R&R**_

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	5. Opened Wounds Bleed Glass

**_Okay, so it took me forever to update this one but that is only because I wanted to put the next chapter up at the same time because I really just wanted to get it completely over with. So there's a huge explanation type thing on the bottom for you so read that before anyone gets mad at me._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own DMC. Only Balentine and her demons are mine (so far till i make somethin else up :P) _**

**_Enjoy :)_**

Once I was finally able to stop crying, I came down the stairs to stand in front of Dante. I really didn't know where to start, to be honest. I forced myself to keep the sadness choked down inside so that I wouldn't break down again and was thankful that my demons were more than willing to help. Dante hadn't moved since he'd laid back down and he didn't move now. The only thing that did move were his eyes as they locked onto and held mine firmly. He was trying to will me through those grey eyes to speak up, but I also knew that he understood that I'd need time to figure out how to let it out. He didn't rush me. Just sat there. Waiting. Watching.

By the time I finally realized that I really couldn't speak, he'd only slightly begun to look impatient. I just dropped my gaze to the floor and searched my brain for a way to put into words all the things that happened to me. I couldn't. There was just no way to really be able to explain those horrible nights. Weeks. Years. Goddess it had gone on for so long. I only very faintly heard him sigh and hadn't even noticed him sit up. It wasn't until he was holding me once again that I realized I'd been shaking.

"Just sit here and I'll get us some refreshments. We'll work through it together, Kay," he whispered softly before turning and pushing me lightly down onto the couch.

I nodded as he walked into the kitchen. A single, burning tear slid down my cheek as I waited. I didn't know how I'd be able to say anything. How could some one just flat out spill every nightmare they've ever had out to some one they barely even knew? He came back in with pizza, beer and blood. He handed me the blood packets, which he'd taken out about four, and then sat beside me on the couch. Close enough to prove that he was there but not close enough to seem to be trying to be intimate or anything. I liked that. He was trying his hardest to make sure I didn't feel uncomfortable with him. It brought a small smile to my lips.

I still couldn't speak though. I tried. I really did. Every time I opened my mouth, though, the only thing that came out was air. I didn't know what to do. Dante didn't look so impatient anymore. He did looked pissed. I knew, though, that it was without a doubt anger at who ever did whatever it was that's kept me horrified all these years to the point of not being able to speak.

After about five minutes of trying and failing to speak, I let out a frustrated sigh and opened the blood packet with a glare. Dante chuckled. I didn't realize this had become funny. I sent him a glare. He chuckled again with a small smile. I intensified my glare, adding a tinge of blackness to my gaze then upended the blood packet and stared across the room. His arm wrapped around my shoulder and he pulled me over so I was tucked against his side perfectly. I turned my head into him and began to cry. His fingers ran along my hair as he waited. I haven't cried this much since it happened.

"Let's start out easy. What sort of damage has it done," he whispered softly.

I pulled back with a little sniffle and looked up at him with wide blue eyes. When I spoke, my voice shook.

"Well… it's the reason for the agoraphobia. It's how I got most of my scars," I drew in a deep, shuttering breath and continued slowly without meeting his gaze, "I've learned to read people better because of it and I'm scared of pretty much anyone because I can barely ever get a trustworthy feeling from them."

Dante was silent for a long moment before he started to pull away. I threw my hand around his waist and gazed franticly into his eyes.

"No, I can trust you. I know I can. Just… don't leave me please. Not right now."

A small smile formed on his lips and he slowly sunk down again, holding me closer to him so my head rested on his chest. Even though he was the reason that my world was literally falling apart, I couldn't help but admit that what I said was the truth. He wasn't going to hurt me and that was something I knew I would most likely not find anywhere else.

"Okay, so then tell me this. Was it physical, psychological or emotional assault?"

"A combination of all three."

He nodded slowly and was quiet for a long time before asking his next question.

"Was it just abuse or… more?"

"More."

"Torture?"

"It could be explained that way, yeah…"

"Was it…" he coughed uncomfortably and continued in a rough voice, "sexual… torture?"

My throat closed to the size of a bendy straw and my eyes stung with tears again. I sucked in a deep breath and nodded against his chest. He sighed irritably and ran his hand through my hair again.

"When," his voice was sharp and I knew he was beginning to get angry.

I gulped to clear my throat and try to open it up enough to make sound come out. It closed farther and I grabbed another blood packet, tearing it open with my teeth and drinking just enough to make my demons excited enough that they would override my personal fear of talking about it.

Once my throat opened up again, I simply whispered, "it was a gift on my ninth birthday."

He tensed. His hand stilled on my hair. I looked up at him. His face was a stone and his eyes were on fire. I began to sit up away from him, but the hand in my hair moved quickly to my shoulder to hold me against him and his gaze immediately softened.

"I'm not angry at you, don't worry…" his gaze grew fiery again and he whispered, "that's a pretty fucked up birthday present if you ask me."

I cocked my head to the side and said, "but you don't really know what actually happened."

His eyes were iron when he said, "no I don't, but it isn't very hard to guess."

I sucked in a breath and stared up at him. He was really pissed off. My demons inside did a little summersault at the knowledge and I fought the smile that threatened my lips. Now wasn't the time for looks of amusement.

He took a deep breath and loosened his hold on my shoulder before saying in a strained voice, "can you tell me what happened?"

I heaved a sigh and stared across the room again at this little grey splotch on the wall that if I looked long enough, it would move and form into a vision of Daddy teaching me how to hold a sword. It would morph into the days when Mommy still talked to me and would hold me in her arms at night while we watched crappy love movies like we were best friends after one of us had a bad break up, only it didn't involve as many tears and there definitely were no broken hearts. Their eyes shone with love and the mark melted into that night when I came home crying because that boy at school had pushed me into the mud because he thought my dress was ugly. They held me in their arms and they wiped my tears, telling me I'm a beautiful girl and that I shouldn't let stupid human boys hurt me. I knew they'd want to know. They'd want me to tell some one. So when that spot on the wall twisted into the painting that hid my fridge of blood that had the three of us together with them smiling and me wrapped in their arms, I take a deep breath and let the memory overtake me so that every little detail is in plain sight. I close my eyes to see it more clearly as I describe the scene in perfect detail for Dante. The tears were warm against my cheeks and I could feel him holding my balled up form, rocking us back and forth as I told him about that night on my ninth birthday when I was just stupid enough to think that whatever the reason was for them hurting me, I must have deserved it. My demons wept inside at the memory.

_**Okay so like I said above, I didn't want to put this one up till I got the next one so just go right on to it :) and please, no one get mad at me for the subject this is on. I know first hand that it really isn't something to joke about or use as entertainment, but I'm basing this on a lot more than just shear entertainment so just og with it ok? If you don't want to continue reading it or would like to skip the next chapter, you can, it's not really needed if you can already guess what's happened. You will need to read the last bit of it thought or you won't know who Talis is... Okay, I'm shutting up now XD**_

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	6. A Crimson Story Of Innocence Lost

_**Warning: this chapter contains adult themes, rape and may not be for all readers. If you are in any way against reading this material or find it disturbing or insulting in any way, I'm sorry. Scroll down until you find where I've marked the safety of where you can read again because there is a charactor introduced in this chapter that you need to know. Thank you and enjoy.**_

I woke up that day with a smile that is every nine-year-old's secret weapon to getting what they want. My eyes glistened baby blue with excitement and as I walked downstairs to greet my mother in the kitchen, I couldn't help the thought Today is going to be the best day of my life! Now that I look back on it, I want to scream in frustration at my idiocy. When I walked into the kitchen, my mother wasn't there. The cake sat on the table, all four layers of chocolate cake with the same flavour of icing an inch thick. I knew better than to try to get into it before Daddy cut it open, so I walked by it to the fridge behind the picture frame and took out a blood packet. Skipping back to my room, humming a tune that my mother use to sing to me, I waited for the doorbell to ring in order to signal my guest's arrivals while I sat on my bed. I don't remember falling back to sleep, but when my eyes opened, there was noise downstairs. Voices mixed into different conversations. Clattering of dishes everywhere. Footsteps on hardwood floor. By the Goddess I'd slept through the arrivals and almost through my party! I flew out of the covers and into my closet, grabbing a small, light blue princess dress and slipping it on before walking out into the hall. I looked to my left, down the steps, to look at the people that were here. I didn't know any of them. Never saw them before in my life. There weren't as many as I thought there would be. Just a small crowd of a dozen or so young men. Five heads dotted in the small crowd in front of the door turned to look up at me, darkness clinging to their eyes while leering grins claimed their lips. The sudden realization that my parents had said they weren't going to be home until late hit me like a brick wall. I involuntarily shuddered.

One of the men who'd looked up, glanced back at the group and announced, "the birthday girl has finally decided to join us!"

A cold chill fingered up my spine as every head at the bottom of those stairs turned to regard me with gazes full of dark intent. I took a shaky step backwards as the one closest to the stairs placed their foot onto the first step. My head began to pound as my demons inside screamed for me to run. They knew what was coming even if my pathetic, nine-year-old mind couldn't even begin to fathom it. I felt one reach into my mind to take control of my entire being, pushing me back inside to be held by the others. It turned my body and forced it to move into my room, locking the door behind me before bounding into my walk in closet. There was pounding on the door and tears were running freely down my cheeks as my eyes became dark blue. The demon taking control of my body was moving things against the door, but I felt its knowledge that there was really no way to stop them. They were also demons and strong ones that wouldn't be fought off easily. As soon as the door was thrown off its hinges with the objects against it scattered across the room, the spiritual arms of the demons around me tightened their hold on me as they let their own power and feelings seep into me and mix together until I became numb. I knew by the shared beings of those around me that the demon controlling my body was known as Talis and I thanked him silently for taking the physical horror of what would happen next. He simply smiled softly in reply as my body was thrown against the ground. The demons holding me enveloped me in their very essence, burying me deep inside myself to keep me from living through the torture that followed. What they didn't know, though, was that my mind would still hold the memories of what happened and it only took a matter of time for them to come to the very front of my mind, mixing into my dreams to torture me. Once I was truly aware of what Talis went through for me, I realized just how much I really loved each and every demon inside of me.

After I was thrown down, the main demon who I nicknamed Nightmare, came forth with a knife to help tear off my dress. Once that was discarded somewhere across the room, he did the same for my underpants. Tears were in my eyes and I knew it was Talis' sorrow at the defilement of the body and not the torture he'd be going through.

It didn't take very long for them to have their belts undone and their jeans kicked off. They didn't even bother with their shirts, this wouldn't last long enough anyway. I was held down by one who held my shoulders. Another held my legs spread wide. Talis didn't even bother to make my body struggle. The more I acted like I didn't care, the faster this would end. It terrified me how he knew that. To think of it makes me want to cry. But remembering this already hurts enough so I don't bother to wonder.

There's this sickening sound of skin tearing. Copper and syrup fill the air. Something warm is seeping out of me around something too fleshy. Fire licked across my skin, but ice filled my veins. Talis forced my body into a cold numbness even as tortured sounds escaped my lips. Waves of pain and darkness roll over me. It doesn't take long for him to be finished and then it was the next. Then he was done. And it was the next. It just went on and on until finally, they were zipping up their pants and walking out with grins on their faces. I was curled into a ball and my hands held my knees to my chest. They were done hurting me. For now at least. After that, every time my parents had a party where they were absent, somehow these demons would find a way to stop the guests from coming so they could play their sick little game with me. It became a game of cat and mouse and every time, the mouse was torn apart slowly with no hope of getting out. Every time it happened, Talis would take over and face the torture while I was buried in the arms of my inner demons that had become my family. I lost count of the time. It all mixed in together to create one huge sick movie that just wouldn't end and kept playing out in front of my eyes.

**_~~Begin reading here if you skipped over the last bit :) ~~_**

For three years it went on and on with no one knowing. I'd cry myself to sleep at night and I wouldn't leave my room during the day. Just looking at my closet caused bile to rise in my throat and tears to sting my eyes. I'd look in the mirror and see a broken, scarred girl with dead, colorless eyes and wild un-kept hair. Black circles hugged her eyes while purple blotches covered her arms and chest. I'd stare at this girl and every time, it took me longer and longer to realize that it was my very own tortured reflection. And once I'd make this sick realization, the memories would crash down on me again. Every time the pain came, I'd curl into a ball and let it roll over me wave after wave. Eventually, Talis began to take permanent control over my body while my other demons held me tightly in their arms. They did whatever they could to ease the pain. But it never really worked for long.  
It wasn't until I was twelve that I'd finally had enough. They came into the room, knowing I was there and waiting. The game had worn thin long ago and they merely just took instead of playing with their prey. But today I wouldn't be their prey. Today, they'd finally feel my wrath.

They advanced on me quickly, taking hold of my arms and throwing me down. I couldn't help the smirk that graced my lips. Talis once again grasped hold of me and threw me back into the arms of the other demons. We had our plan. As soon as their arms wrapped securely around me, they passed me down a line of them until finally I was in the hold of the Mother Demon, as I called her. Once she held me securely in her arms, the others joined Talis. Every demon inside me melded into Talis to create one. I watched absently as they slowly took over the situation with the men, flipping back up and throwing the one on top of me against the far wall. They stood me up and opened my hands like claws, watching as my nails grew longer than I've ever made them grow before, coming into long, delicate points about three inches long. Those beautiful, horrible, nails easily bit through the skin of one man's neck. Warmth sprayed on my face and ran down my cheeks. I leapt onto the man running towards me and threw my hand forward, digging my fingers into his eye sockets. My fingers closed into as tight a fist as I could make and I pulled back, tearing his face off like a thin layer of skin. I began moving in a blur and all I knew was the feel of skin tearing under my nails and warm blood coating me like a second skin.  
It was all over too soon and I wept in the arms of the Mother Demon while my other demons slowly pulled out of Talis, welcoming me back into their arms in comfort. Talis walked my body over to the bed and let me collapse easily onto it so he too could hold me tightly in his arms. Yes, they deserved it. Yes, I wouldn't have wanted anything different. But that doesn't change the fact that I just killed a dozen men with my bear hands. Unwelcome tears slid down my cheeks as Talis slowly rocked me in his arms with the other demons creating a protective circle around us. He whispered things to me and smoothed my hair with his soft, ethereal hands. My arms wrapped around his neck and I sobbed into his chest. His arms simply tightened around me. He knew I was in pain and he knew exactly why.

While he held me in his arms, another demon took over my body to clean up the mess. I simply didn't pay attention to anything except for Talis as he rocked me gently in his arms and simply stared into my eyes as the last of my tears faded away. Just before he let me take over my body again and go to sleep, he lightly brushed his lips against mine and murmured a short promise of protection.

Since then, I'd sleep with the essence of my demon best friend holding me tightly in his arms even though he never really did leave my body. And every time I began to get anxious or scared, he'd take over for me or he'd hold me and tell me it would be okay.

As the memory faded away and my voice grew quiet before completely stopping, I slumped against Dante's chest as the long dried up tears cracked against my cheeks. His arms held me tightly against him as he rocked us much like Talis does. He was quiet and tense, but I knew he wouldn't be angry with me. It didn't take long for unconsciousness to drag me into it's grip and I fell asleep in Dante's hold. It wasn't until morning that I realized I slept without nightmares for the first time in five years. But until then, all I know is that throughout the entire night, the arms around me never left.

_**If there is anyone who wants to complain about this being something inaproprate to write about, feel free to because I know it shouldn't be used for entertainment, but like I said before, I'm writing this for a higher purpose to myself than it just being entertainment for you. Next chapter should hopefully be up soon :)**_

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	7. Damage Control

_** Sorry it takes so long to update, I'm a little busy xDD so here's the next chapter, it's a little boring, but I had to put something in here about what goes on inside her so that's what this is.**_

**_I (Sadly) Do not own Devil May cry, the only things I own are Balentine and everything inside her ;D sooo enjoy ^-^_**

I woke to sunlight stabbing at my eyes and iron bars encircling my waist. I knew it couldn't be Talis, his hold was much too gentle even though it was secure. This hold was rock hard and possessive. Protective. I slowly moved my gaze down to the arm around me, noting that it was much more muscular than the ethereal one of Talis. Careful to not move my head too much, I let my eyes wander up the arm until it reached all the way up to the pretty little white head of Dante. I sucked in an involuntary breath as I carefully moved myself around so my chest was against his and my gaze was on his face. He only tightened his arm around me as I moved. I exhaled slowly as I searched his features. He was dreaming. It was a good dream, too. I learned to read these things in people when I was young. When I'd wake my mother up in the morning, I had to make sure she was having a good dream or she'd wake in a frightened fury. Dante's face was peaceful and a small smile hung on his lips. His eyelashes kissed his cheeks as they fluttered slightly with the intensity of what his mind made him see. The breath that escaped through his nose was warm and brushed against my cheek every time he exhaled. His chest rose and fell in time with his breathing and even though his arm was tight around me, his overall posture was loose.

I couldn't help the smile that tugged on my lips. I may hate him, but he was still the only friend I had right now and that only made me happy that he was happy. I snuggled closer to him, resting my head against his chest and exhaled quietly as I waited for him to wake, pretending to still be asleep.

As I lay there in his hold, I drifted back into myself to check on my demons. I hadn't even spoken to them since Dante killed my parents. There was a sort of excitement that hung like a fog in the internal world of my body as they realized they were being visited. The world inside looked like a small town that was created of mist and shadow. There were little houses with smiling heads peaking out of the windows and there were roads leading to each house. There weren't shops or anything like that, though. Just small houses filled with misty creatures. Sidewalks didn't exist in this place either, it was all just one big road. No matter what time I came and no matter where I went, there were demons walking everywhere, crowding the road and the houses. They'd clear into a path as I walked and the ones closest to me, Talis and the Mother Demon along with some others, would walk alongside me. With Talis wrapping his arm around my waist and the Mother Demon holding my hand in hers, we walked through this ethereal town of demons. I greeted them loudly and politely as they passed us and all too quickly we came to the end of the road.

There was a huge mansion here with at least six stories and picture windows all over. It was creamy white and had black vines curling around the columns in front of the doorway. Said doorway took up half the wall it was set into and had little intricate designs of roses and birds carved into the chocolate wood. It was the only thing here that seemed solid. And it was all for me.

I take a deep breath and walk in, hoping that Dante would stay asleep long enough to let me get my work done as I walked through the large foyer to where the dinning room was. Talis sat next to me at the round table and our other followers took up their seats next to him until they were all full with the Mother on my other side.

"So I don't have very much time to be here since I don't know when Dante is waking, so let's get down to business shall we," I spoke the question to everyone, but I was looking at the demon across from me, Braykon.

He was the one I left in charge of recording things that went on in this town. It was weird to think that I had a whole town living inside me and I didn't even know what was happening in it most of the time. So in order to stay updated, I leave it to him to record all the important things.

He looked a lot like what an average thirty year old man would look like. Dark brown, shaggy hair and light blue eyes. Built up muscles that hid under tanned skin. Beer gut. The only thing unusual was that he was covered in scars. Raised, jagged puffs of flesh covered him from head to toe. For obvious reasons, he was nicknamed Scar. Although, I never really liked that name myself when I was younger, so instead, I called him Braybay, simply to annoy him.

"It's actually been unusually quiet," he spoke in a rough, deep voice and his eyes always narrowed when he spoke.

"Unusually quiet?"

"Yeah."

"Explain."

He sighed heavily and leaned forward in his chair.

"The demons are just either staying inside or just walking around with cloaks on and hung heads. It's like the whole town has gone into mourning for something…" he trailed off and sat back.

There was pressure on my shoulder and I knew it was Talis' hand so I turned to look at him. He had long blond hair that reached almost to his shoulders and short blue bangs that hung in his eyes. Said eyes were pale blue, almost grey. Talis had this smile that seemed to always hang on his thin lips and no matter how small the smile was, it seemed to brighten the whole room.

"Bal, are you feeling okay?"

I sucked in a deep, quiet breath before asking what he meant.

"Are you sick? Or maybe upset about something?"

I knew that my feelings could effect how the demons inside me acted. They were connected directly to my heart, mind and even soul. It only made sense that what I felt would go back to them somehow. I knew what the problem was instantly but I was afraid to tell them. I didn't want them to know that I was secretly wishing to die. They didn't even know about a lot of what's happened to my parents. At least, I don't think they do. I took another deep breath. Let it out. Breathed again. I could do this.

"How much do you guys know about what's happened in the last few days?"

Talis looked confused for a second before his eyes filled with understanding. He knew me better than anyone else, so he knew I really wasn't comfortable sharing my feelings before a whole table of demons.

"We know that something happened to your parents, that you now live with the Son of Sparda and that you have mixed feelings about him."  
I sighed heavily and spoke quietly, "My parents are dead. Dante killed them. And then he took me to his shop and he's trying to make me happy living with him. He said something about protecting the innocence of a hybrid demon. And I think that would be me."

There were gasps all around the table and whispers started among the demons. They didn't understand completely how something like that could happen. Talis became angry and he fisted his hands against his legs, staring blankly at the table. I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to calm down as he kept repeating the words, "how could he?"  
I didn't know how to calm him down so finally I just stood up, causing him to look up at me just in time to catch me when I jumped in his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck tightly. For ethereal creatures, they were still quite physical. I forced him to look into my eyes, keeping my face inches in front of his while I spoke.

"Talis, he did take my family away from me, yes. But he's still the reason I'm alive right now and you should be thankful because he cares enough about me that he's trying to make up for the unforgivable."

Talis just sat staring at me for a long while. Silence filled the entire room as all eyes fell on us. I wasn't worried about the position I was in with him, he was my best friend and I've been in a lot worse with him before. His hands that were resting on my hips slowly slid up my back to pull me against him in a hug while he softly spoke apologies into my ear.  
I sat back and smiled, getting off him and moving to stand behind his chair. While my hands played with the blonde curls on his head, I spoke to the rest of the group.

"Dante isn't our enemy no matter what he's done in the past. He's sworn to protect me and for that you all should respect him. Yes, I am depressed and that is most likely what is wrong with the demons, but I'm getting better so just hang in there for a bit longer."

I looked around and watched all the heads nod slowly before I moved my fingers under Talis' chin and pulled his head back gently to see what he had to say about it. He smiled in agreement and I grinned back, letting go of him and walking towards the entrance again. Talis stood and soon the other demons followed, coming to make a half circle around me.

"I have to go now, I think Dante is waking and I don't know what he'd think if he couldn't get me to wake."

Talis came forward with the Mother and they both took one of my hands in theirs. This was how we said our goodbyes. I smiled at the two of them and they smiled back softly. I opened my mouth to say I'd see them later, but before I could, my eyes opened.

I was staring now up at Dante's worried face which was only a few inches from mine. His hand was on my cheek and from the tingling in it, I knew he'd been lightly tapping it to wake me. I groaned, closed my eyes again and rolled over away from him before sitting up.

"Dante," I spoke his name in a whine, "I was in the middle of something!"

He just looked at me with confusion written all over his face. I realized then that he didn't know of the demons inside me. He knew that they'd helped me when I was younger, but I'd never really told him anything about them. I sighed. Guess it was time to let another story out. I was getting bored of story time.

"I was visiting my demons," I said simply.

Surprise was written across his face, but he just let it drop. I smiled. I didn't feel like sharing anyway. Not yet.

_**It'll come out eventually :P okay so believe me, it gets a lot more interesting soon just give it a bit :D**_

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	8. The lost and the re united

_**HEY! It's me again :D Finally. I'm so sorry that I take so long to update. I really am. Anyway, here's the next chappy now. My most favorite chactor of Devil may Cry is finally brought in and you'll most likely be surprised as to who they are in this. Read, enjoy and review :)**_

I've been at Devil May Cry for two weeks now and everyday it seems like I grow a little closer to Dante, despite my displeasure at the fact. My ordered clothes and the weapon finally came today and I was more than pleased with that fact. Dante didn't even get a chance to see the weapon either and I'm pretty sure he was unaware of the fact that there was a box in my hand that didn't have clothes in it. He was so dumb sometimes. I took my clothes and my blade up to my room, closing and locking the door behind me before moving to set everything down on my bed. I took the blade out first, leaving the clothes until later.

It was only a small dagger. The handle was gold and carved into it was the image of a dragon curled around it in a protective embrace, it's jaws clutching a gem in them. The gem itself was small and looked like a dirty glass orb. In truth, it was known as a Seoid Cara Dúinn Láimhsigh, which is just the Gaelic name for Jewel of Manipulation. This was the jewel that would hold the demonic power I could feed into it which would then be moved down the blade to give it the power to kill just about anything, even an immortal. The blade itself was silver and curved out to a delicate point like a long fang with an indented dip through the middle. It was absolutely beautiful.

I slid it under my pillow carefully before finally turning my attention to the boxes of clothes. There was no way to explain how happy I was that I didn't have to wear Dante's huge clothes anymore. Once I got everything sorted out into the small closet on the left side of my bed, I changed into a pair of black skinny jeans that had small chains hanging off the belt loops and a black T-shirt with Alesana written across the chest in scratched out, bleeding letters. Under the letters was a picture of the band members with mischievous grins playing across their lips. My next task was to work on the foot wear. There was at least four different pairs of leather boots that all had to be given inside sheaths for my small blade to hide in as well as hollowed out heels where I could insert a knife that would come out if I stomped my heel down hard. Considering they were small platform boots, the heel part would be easy. I already had the small blades with me that would go inside so I wouldn't have trouble locating those. My problem was making and inserting a sheath on the inside of them so it wouldn't bother my leg while I wore the boot. That was something my father always did. Before I could start to cry again, I shook my head and forced my attention onto my task. I could save the tears for later. I had to.

Dante finally knocked on the door when I was almost done adding in the small blade to the heal of the last boot. I'd done the sheaths first since they were the hardest, leaving the easiest for last. By this time, all I heard in my head were my parents laughing and talking. I'd failed to keep them out of my head and now my body had gone numb. I was only able to finish my work because I'd done it so many times that my hands moved without me having to make them. Tears had been freely falling from my cheeks and they felt like liquid fire. My eyes were open and yet I wasn't seeing what was before me. All I could see were bright, clear blue eyes and a loving smile that made my chest clench. I could see my father with his arms wrapped around my mother's waist while the three of us watched movies. I could see my mother lighting candles because the power went out during a terrible storm. She looked so young and pale and beautiful. My father stood beside me at the window while we watched the rain pour down from the sobbing clouds. He matched my mother perfectly. Young, pale and inexplicably beautiful. Missing them was a double edged sword slicing through my chest and going deeper and deeper, never to be taken out again. My Goddess just end this already!

Light flooded in and my eyes stung. I glanced away, hoping Dante hadn't seen my tear streaked face yet. My hands were shaking and I barely noticed it when a strong arm wrapped around my shoulders. I barely noticed it when I was forced to stand and lead out of the room, down the stairs and into the office. There was some one standing in the doorway. Why did he look familiar? Something clicked in the back of my head, but I couldn't see anything. My eyes were dry and sore. I blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Everything seemed to get clearer and clearer, except for the figure in the doorway.

Dante's voice rang behind me, "this the girl you were looking for, kid?"

The familiar stranger spoke, "do I even want to know why she's with you, old man?"

His voice rang out like bells and wrapped around me. The ice that encased my heart and my mind slowly began to break off as the familiarity of this stranger shook me. I was sucked back into my head again as images from my childhood flashed through me. A young man with a dark blue coat and red hoodie underneath picking me up. Me laughing in the strong arms of a man I barely saw. Hands playing with his soft white hair. Laughing at his terrible jokes. Falling asleep in his arms after a terrible day. Then my thoughts flashed to when the fight started. I never could remember what it was really about. All I knew was that him and my parents wouldn't stop yelling at each other. I clutched his arm tightly and stood defiantly as the screaming reigned on. Father tried to pry me away from him. I wouldn't let go. Then he slowly took his arm from my hold and looked me in the eyes. His were filled with liquid, but I refused to admit they were tears. And then he was saying good bye and walking away. I thought I'd never see him again. But that was him in the doorway wasn't it?

My head finally cleared and my gaze snapped up to meet his.

"Hey, B," his voice was soft and he stepped closer, holding out his arms, "remember me?"

I was moving before I actually made the bodily command and suddenly, I was in his arms. Sobs broke free from my throat as I tucked myself firmly against him. I hadn't seen him in so long! He was laughing quietly at me when I finally pulled away. Looking up into his bright blue eyes, I couldn't help the grin tugging at my lips. He hadn't changed at all. He still had messy, white hair that hung in his eyes. The same blue coat fitting him perfectly. The same scent of cinnamon and mint. He even had the same pale skin and the face of a young boy even though he was a man now. I buried my face in his chest again and breathed in deeply.

"Okay, now I feel unloved. Don't I get any hugs," Dante's voice held mock sadness and I finally remembered he was there.

I turned to face him with a soft smile, but didn't say anything.

"Well don't get too upset, you might have a heart attack old man," I closed my eyes and revelled in the sound of his voice. It had been far too long.

Dante just frowned at the man beside me, who wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Dante glanced from him to me and back.

"So how exactly do you know her?"

"Dante, she's my cousin."

His mouth dropped open with a pop and I couldn't help the sudden laugh that escaped me. Even I found it hard to believe I'd actually been in tears only a few minutes ago. I kept laughing until a realization hit me. Then I gasped.

"Wait, you two actually know each other!"

"Yeah, we've sort of worked together on a couple jobs," Nero said, not sounding all too pleased about it, but he wasn't hateful at least.

Now it was my turn to frown. Well damn, the world really was small. By the look in Dante's eye, I had the feeling he was thinking the same thing.

_**GAH! I'm sorry it's short D; Yeah... Nero's her cousin! Didn't see that one comin did you xD okay, the whole explanation and such comes out next along with some actual action so hold on :p Like I mentioned once before, I'd love it if some one could Beta for me. I'm only a beginner with writing so some help with improvement would be great. Flamers are loved as well :)**_

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


	9. How Did This Happen?

**_Oookay. So I am well aware that Dante is OOC. And I'm sorry for that, but it's the best that I can do so please stop complaining. Thank you though to those of you who are giving me your opinions on this and telling me what I'm doing wrong... although I'm sorry to say, I can't really change the cliche in this unless I want to re-write the entire thing. I am taking your opinions into consideration, though and will keep them in mind for the remainder of the story... So just to warn everyone else who've made it this far and haven't noticed, Dante is OOC and Nero possibly is too. But other than that, read, enjoy and review :)_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry, only Balentine and the demons inside of her :)  
_**

I sat on the edge of the pool table in the middle of the room. Dante was at his desk, his legs kicked up as usual and Nero stood beside me, leaning against the pool table. I could feel the buzzing and tingling inside of me that meant that those dark creatures that somehow came to love me were finally happy again because I was. How couldn't I be? My cousin was finally back!

Okay, so Nero had been more than just my cousin for a lot of my childhood. He'd been my best friend. Actually, if I remember correctly, he had been my only friend. All the kids at school avoided me because they knew about the thousands of other beings that were inside of me and to put it frankly, they were scared shitless of me.

So Nero would walk me to school every morning and wait outside for me at the end of every day. He would pick me up and swing me onto his shoulders, claiming that pretty young girls shouldn't have to walk the twenty minutes it took to get back to the house. He taught me to fight and to hold a sword and throw a dagger. He took me out every Thursday and Saturday night for dinner at that expensive restaurant that I could never remember the name of after we'd left.

And then the fighting started and my world shattered.

I still don't know what started it. Neither does he really. All we know is that after two years of constant fighting, yelling and general pain, Mom and Dad had made him leave. They told him that he couldn't see me anymore and that if they ever saw him at their doorstep again, they'd kill him. So he left. And I never saw him or heard from him again.

Until he showed up at Dante's doorstep today asking about me.

All this I explained to Dante while he sat in his leather chair with pizza in one hand; beer in the other. Nero stayed quiet while I talked. He was going to give his half of the story next so he didn't add anything to mine. Dante actually seemed interested even though I was sure that he'd be yawning by now. He wasn't. Actually, he was asking questions almost every five minutes and jumping in on any detail that he could use to make fun of Nero. I was impressed.

"So, kid, what about you? What happened to make you come looking for your dear cousin," Dante asked, winking at me with the last two words.

I replied with a fairly rude gesture involving one of my fingers and a dirty look. He chuckled. Of course.

Nero seemed amused by the whole exchange and his eyes glittered with that smile that I'd missed so much. Then he began to explain his side of the story:

"After I was ripped out of Bal's life, I moved to Fortuna. You know the whole story there so I'm not repeating that because it would take way too long to go through," I started to protest that I wanted to hear it but he shushed me and continued, "I might tell you that later, B, but not right now. Anyway. After that whole thing went down, me and Kyrie got together. We didn't stay together for very long, though. Apparently even she can only handle so much of this," he held up his arm. The one that was demonic with its hard, red skin and the blue light shining through it like some sort of light bulb. He'd always had trouble with it scaring people away. I think that might have been why his parents didn't want him and why mine began to despise him. My chest ached.

He continued.

"So I moved into a fairly nice house, got a job and lived on my own. I was kicked out of Bal's life when she was eight and now that I had only myself in my big house, I wanted to see if I could come back into it. She's old enough now to make her own decisions so I figured I'd give it a try. I got there and found her parents…," he cast me a sidelong glance, not knowing what to say to keep me from crying. The only thing that I thought of was that damn it I was right. They wouldn't have been found for days. I hate being right about the gruesome details.

After confirming that I wouldn't suddenly break down and start crying, he went on hastily, "well I found them dead. My first thought was an attack. And then I realized after checking the house that Bal wasn't there. Then I really started to panic. I checked all the places I thought she could go and went to all our hide outs and then checked everything again. I finally had to admit that I couldn't find her without help because I had no idea what happened. So I came here since I figured you'd have gotten a call by now about some one killing off people and taking their kids. I didn't realize they were the only victims…"

Nor did he know that it was Dante who'd killed them, I added at the end in my head. My heart for, some odd reason, sunk. I looked up at Dante and he too seemed to know without a doubt that Nero had missed this detail. And the bastard was actually about to risk coming clean.

"Yeah, I didn't see what happened, just ran as soon as I heard the shots," I spoke fast before Dante could and Nero watched me, taking it in as the whole truth. I ignored the guilt that made my chest ache more and my throat feel numb and continued my lie, "I bumped into Dante after a few minutes of non-stop, painful sprinting and after I told him what happened, he took me in. We found the man that did it… mainly because he'd killed himself later that night. So don't worry, everything's okay now. Well other than not having my parents anymore, but I'll be okay."

Nero stared at me. Was I talking to fast? Did the story make sense? Oh Goddess I hoped so. He had to buy it. No matter what, he had to believe the story. Because whether I hated Dante or not, he didn't need to deal with the wrath of my cousin. Which I'm sure he would have unleashed without a second thought when he heard the news that Dante had murdered my very own parents.

Dante caught my eyes with what I could only guess was a gaze of utter astonishment. Nero simply sighed heavily. I turned back to him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him into a tight embrace.

"I'm just glad that you're okay. You have no idea how worried I was," he whispered.

I didn't bother to point out the fact that I probably did. He cared more for me than either of my parents ever did. But I kept my mouth shut. After what I'd just said to him, I honestly didn't want to talk anymore. At least not for now. Who knows what else I might hide from him. Who knows what else I might lie about.

I knew he'd find out sooner or later. He wasn't an idiot. And I knew it would hurt him. But I didn't know what else to do. There'd been enough blood shed on my behalf. I didn't need my cousin and best friend trying to rip out the throat of the only man that I've ever opened up to.

So I sat in his embrace there on the edge of the pool table in the middle of the room with my head on his shoulder and my tears soaking into his dark blue coat. He'd never know I was crying until he took it off and saw the marks. And by then, I'll have become the girl he barely knew anymore rather than his cousin that he'd known since the day she was born.

**_So. Lies are told, trust is shattered... But do you guys really think he'd have been that upset if they'd have just flat out said that Dante was the one who killed her parents? I mean, yeah he'd be pissed because he killed in front of her and kidnapped her basically. But in a way, now they just made it even worse by not telling him, right? Heh, let's see how it unfolds 8D_**

**_%#*~Vampgirl17~*#%_**


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